Why I Give

It is very important to share the beauty of Yosemite with my family, to introduce them to the hiking trails and campsite traditions, like pancakes and marshmallows.

Carolyn Landgrebe
Yosemite Conservancy donor

Protect the American Pika

The American pika, a small, herbivorous, conspicuously cute mammal related to rabbits, is extra sensitive to climatic changes. Warmer temperatures threaten pikas by shortening the period available for them to gather food, altering plant populations where they feed and reducing insulating snowpack that protects them from cold snaps. Warming can also cause pikas to die from overheating.

Building on a recently completed five-year U.S. Geological Survey project that examined effects of climate shifts on the pika across the Sierra Nevada, this project will fill a critical information gap by determining the availability of the pika’s food resources in Yosemite.

Many scientists agree that warmer temperatures are going to result in severe impacts in habitat suitability for the pika during the next several decades. This project will enable us to identify what the pikas’ requirements are for survival in Yosemite. I’m excited to finally have the opportunity to answer important questions about how climate change is affecting Yosemite’s alpine ecosystems.